Graphics Card!!

# 1 22-09-2006 , 06:50 PM

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i'm building a new computer specifically for use of 3D graphics software such as Maya, and other media editing/creating software as well as some gaming and i need to know what graphics card would be the best option for my new pc. Has to be very good/quick when rendering in Maya. i'm down to 2 graphics cards, but dont really know which would be ideal as i dont know too much about graphics cards.

128Mb ATI FireGL V5100 PCI-E (x16) GDDR, Dual DVI-I, OEM

or.

Leadtek GeForce 7900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

other cards that are better in the same price range as above please let me know..

pc spec - amd x2 4600 (Socket 939), 2GB Ram, ASUS motherboard, 250GB Harddrve...

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Kunz...

Last edited by no1desai; 22-09-2006 at 07:00 PM.

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# 2 23-09-2006 , 01:53 AM

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IF the workstation is purly for rednering and working with 3D and compositing etc... I would say get the FireGL, but you want to use it for leisure, so get the NVidia Card.

FireGL as really poor at supporting gaming, but the NVidia cards are great at dealing with 3D software and compositing. I have read in 3D World tht some studios are dropping the expensive Hardware rendering cards like FireGL in favour of the cheaper 7 series cards from NVidia as they are just as good at dealing with rendering as the FireGL's.

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# 3 23-09-2006 , 03:34 AM

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Hmm, can't help much but I can clear up some 'misconceptions'.

FireGLs are not that bad for playing games, its not that they are technically incaperble, but thier drivers are geared to high end OpenGL rendering, not your dodgy DirectX. Since FireGLs are based on the Radeon and the Quaddro is based on the GeForce, they are both as caperble at working on general 3D graphics but workstation cards do tend to be better at high end apps like Maya - mostly due to optimised drivers.

Also, just like in gaming, certain workstation cards are geared towards certain programs, so you should see benchmarks (I get them from 3D World) to figure out which is best for your intended app.

However workstation cards are designed be more reliable than your gaming card - some by Sapphire are really dodgy.

Furthermore, Alias does not recommend GeForce cards for Maya due to incompatibility problems. Apparently, this is still a cause for people frothing at the mouth.

And yeah, I read that alot of studios are dumping workstation equipment for cheaper stuff, but then, I think that they just can't afford better equipment. Just becuase more people use doesn't mean its better.

Can't help much with which card to use, one is optimised for Maya but has a smaller memory, one has more memory but could be slower.

Last edited by The Architect; 23-09-2006 at 11:54 PM.

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# 4 23-09-2006 , 03:52 AM

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Just to give my 2 pence, Ive got a laptop with the NVIDIA GFORCE 7900 GTX Go and it works with maya fine as well as anything else that I use (ZBrush, photoshop, Avid, After Effects etc)

You need to weigh up what you want to use your PC for in the mainstream and go for that.

The ATI is supported for maya so there shouldent be any problems with anything that Maya can throw at it, the 7900 isnt so you might have a couple of problems (as they apper to crop up pretty much randomly with the Gforces).

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# 5 23-09-2006 , 08:24 AM

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My point seems to have been missed. gster seems to have put it better.

As for the studios going to GForce its a cost saving thing nothing else. Why Pay £500 - £1000 for a Fire GL when u can get a 512Mb GForce that does the same job for under £300 - £450. Oh ahve u ever played a game on the Quatro Chip.... YEUK

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# 6 23-09-2006 , 11:52 PM

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I think people need to know the issue of reliability. Yes, r-e-l-i-a-b-i-l-i-t-y. Generally, if the performance of a workstation product and a consumer product is the same or similar, the difference is that the workstation product is more reliable and it can handle more extremes such as higher tempreture's.

And don't forget that it's made from better quality parts that will never fail or have issues. Remeber that workstation cards are designed for big studios - their computers are never turned off for weeks.

Look at Google. They save money by using P4s that have to be replaced every month. If they used something more professional, they won't have to waste money for replacements.

I've played the Sims 2 on a FireGL at my friend's place. No problems, no performance issues.

The reason why games sometimes have bad performance on games is that their drivers are updated less often than your consumer card. And when you play the latest game, they need the weekly driver to get maximum performance, last month's driver won't cut the job. Anyway, for those who don't know, a Quadro is a GeForce chip with extra features bolted on.

Further more, the performance of a card is not based on how much RAM it has, there are ten thousand things which affect perofmance, and these things arn't something you can compare from PCWeekly.

We live in a world where marketing monkeys are constantly trying to force that cheaper is better. But then why does a Ferrari always outperform your family wagon?

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# 7 25-09-2006 , 05:06 PM

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I agree with the relaibility aspect but I dont get this comment

Originally posted by The Architect

Look at Google. They save money by using P4s that have to be replaced every month. If they used something more professional, they won't have to waste money for replacements.

Originally Posted by

How are they saving money by wasting it??? Surely they are doing the right thing in the lower spec parts over the pro stuff